Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Book of Prayers (Kitab Al-Salat)

Muslim :: Book 4 : Hadith 775

Abu Huraira reported: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: If anyone observes prayer in which he does not recite Umm al-Qur’an, It is deficient [he said this three times] and not complete. It was said to Abu Huraira: At times we are behind the Imam. He said: Recite it inwardly, for he had heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) declare that Allah the Exalted had said: I have divided the prayer into two halves between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks. When the servant says: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, Allah the Most High says: My servant has praised Me. And when he (the servant) says: The Most Compassionate, the Merciful, Allah the Most High says: My servant has lauded Me. And when he (the servant) says: Master of the Day of judg- ment, He remarks: My servant has glorified Me. and sometimes He would say: My servant entrusted (his affairs) to Me. And when he (the worshipper) says: Thee do we worship and of Thee do we ask help, He (Allah) says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks for. Then, when he (the worshipper) says: Guide us to the straight path, the path of those to whom Thou hast been Gracious not of those who have incurred Thy displeasure, nor of those who have gone astray, He (Allah) says: This is for My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks for. Sufyan said: ‘Ala b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Ya’qub narrated it to me when I went to him and he was confined to his home on account of illness, and I asked him about it.

This is one of the hadith Qudsi.

The next time you are reciting Al fatehah, know that you are having a conversation with Allah.

When you say

ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ

All praises be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Allah says : My slave has praised me.

ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Allah says My servant has lauded Me.

مَـٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ

He is the Owner of the day of judgment
Allah says : My slave has glorified Me and sometimes He says My slave has surrendered himself to My will.

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ

You we worship and from You we seek help
Allah says This is between Me and My slave. My slave will have whatever he has asked for

Guide us to the straight path, the path of those on whom You bestowed Your favours. not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray
Allah says This is for My slave and My slave will have what he has asked for.

Ibn Taymiyyah said in the superiority of this surah

All the previous revelations (Books) were summarised in the three last books : The torah, Psalms and the Bible, these were in turn included in the Quran, the Quran was also summarised in the opening chapter. he added: It is an anvocation, a prayer, a remembrance, and it included monotheism, servitude of Muslims to Allah and it curses the jews and the Christians who went astray. It is, to conclude, the best surah of the Quran.

This is the continuation on our study of Suratul Humazah. We covered it HERE.

We covered short seerahs on wealthy sahabah such to give examples to the children of the wealthy sahabah, who are infact the best of the best, among the ten promised jannah, May Allah have mercy on them. One can have wealth but not be among those described in Suratul Humazah. What kind of characters do they have that Allah has put favour on them?

Abu Bakr with the wealth he had, also had a major role in freeing some of the Muslim slaves, who were barbarically tortured by their heartless Mushrik masters to give up the Faith and return to their masters’ beliefs. The heartless monsters tried all kinds of torture: they made them lie all naked on the burning desert sand, putting big stones on their chest, as well as other kinds of torture. Here Abu Bakr’s wealth came to the rescue, as he bought the poor helpless slaves from their inhuman masters and set them free, Bilal Al-Habashi, the slave of Umayya bin Khalaf, was among those who were set free by Abu Bakr. Bilal became afterwards the Mu’azzin at the Prophet’s mosque.

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Tabuk was the last expedition of the Holy Prophet. He was keen to make it a great success, he therefore asked people to help the expedition with whatever they could. This brought the best out of Abu Bakr who beat all records as he took all his money and household articles and heaped them at the Prophet’s feet.

“Have you left anything for your children?” asked the Prophet. Abu Bakr then responded with great faith “Allâh and his Messenger are enough for them”. Companions standing around were stunned they realized that whatever they do they could not outdo Abu Bakr in the field of service to Islâm.

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We did a lapbook on Abu Bakr As Siddiq. You may find it HERE, Insya ALlah.

This is the continuation on our study of Suratul Humazah. We covered it HERE.

We covered short seerahs on wealthy sahabah such to give examples to the children of the wealthy sahabah, who are infact the best of the best, among the ten promised jannah, May Allah have mercy on them. One can have wealth but not be among those described in Suratul Humazah. What kind of characters do they have that Allah has put favour on them?

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“O Allah, Be pleased with Uthman for I am pleased with him.” The Prophet (Salla-Llaahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam)

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During the reign of the Caliph ‘Umar (radiy-Allaahu ‘anhu) in the year known as ‘the year of Ramaadah”, when the people at Madina suffered a severe draught, to the extent that they resorted to eating tree leaves out of starvation, news came that ‘Uthman (radiy-Allaahu ‘anhu) was expecting a caravan of 1000 camels loaded with food supplies. The merchants of the Madina rushed to him to buy those loads of food to make money out of them. Our hero asked them how much they would pay him. They offerend double and triple the price of those camel loads, and kept raising their offers. What was ‘Uthman’s answer tot hem? He replied, “I have been offered more by Allah Who has promised ten to seven hundred folds.” (See Qur’an, Chapter 2, verse 261) He gave the whole 1000 camel caravan load in charity to the needy people of the city.

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In the year 9 of Hijra (circa 630 G), the Prophet Muhammed (salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam) decided to launch an attack against the Arab vassals of the Roman Empire, as a deterrent to the Romans who were reported to have been preparing to wage war against the Muslims. It was summer, and the affairs of the Muslims were not going well. Many a believer wanted to join the army, but was prevented by poverty and scarcity of means. To save the day our hero, ‘Uthman (radiy-Allaahu ‘anhu) gave 10,000 gold dinars, three hundred fully equipped camels, and fifty horses for this Battle of Tabuk. Besides, he supplied three hundred of the learned companions of the Prophet (salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam) with full provisions to accompany the army. The Prophet’s reaction was, “Nothing will hurt ‘Uthman after this day.” The Prophet then prayed, “O Allah, be pleased with ‘Uthman, for I am pleased with him.”

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In Medina, water was scarce and control of the wells was tightly held by several men. Because he was a skilful trader and negotiator, Uthman set about trying to procure a well for the use of the Muslims. He negotiated a price for half a well; he would have control one day and the other owner the next day. However, Uthman gave his water to the Muslims freely, so nobody wanted to pay for the water on the alternate days. The original owner of the well had no choice but to sell his half of the well to Uthman who nevertheless paid a fair price for it. Uthman continued to allow the water to be used freely by all and never reminded the people of his charity. He was humble and modest.
Uthman gave freely from his wealth to please God and His messenger Muhammad.

Allah’s Apostle did not remember me till he reached Tabuk. So while he was sitting amongst the people in Tabuk, he said, ‘What did Ka’b do?’ A man from Banu Salama said, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! He has been stopped by his two Burdas (i.e. garments) and his looking at his own flanks with pride.’ Then Mu’adh bin Jabal said, ‘What a bad thing you have said! By Allah! O Allahs Apostle! We know nothing about him but good.’ Allah’s Apostle kept silent.”

What did the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam said about those who defend his brother

General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)
Dawud :: Book 41 : Hadith 4865

Narrated Mu’adh ibn Anas:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone guards a believer from a hypocrite, Allah will send an angel who will guard his flesh on the Day of Resurrection from the fire of Jahannam; but if anyone attacks a Muslim saying something by which he wishes to disgrace him, he will be restrained by Allah on the bridge over Jahannam till he is acquitted of what he said.

Lessons
Defending our brother against backbiting and slandering will earn us an angel who will guard us against the fire, Insya Allah.

2. If you are not able to prevent him, you should get up and leave the gathering.

AFter these series of lessons we must really sit down and reflect whether we are among those who backbite/ slander

1. Reflect on the severe punishment awaiting for those who backbite. the scratching on the face and chest using copper nails. The tortures in the grave. The transfer of good deeds to those whom you backbite and the possibility of takingt the person’s bad deeds. The crushing hellfire. Then weight a the short enjoyment of backbiting someone in dunya compared to the pain of even one second to any of these tortures.

2. Repent and seek the forgiveness of the victim, if this is possible without any chance of vicious consequences; otherwise, you must implore God’s mercy for the victim.

3. Gather all your strength and make promise to yourself to guard your tongue. Be fully watchful of yourself, steadfastly vigilant, calling yourself to account. Prepare yourself with pointers concerning the deen perhaps a hadith, a verse to reflect or seerah to narrate to your friends. Insya Allah with big effort and dua’ you will be able to control it.

4. Backbiting often results from a weakness our own soul. Perhaps our own inferiority complex. Try to discover our own weakness and find its remedy.

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This is part of the continuation of the lesson Suratul Humazah which was covered HERE.
Relevant posts on suratul Humazah covered by us is Backbiting and Slandering covered HERE.
We also covered short seerahs on wealthy sahabah such to give examples to the children of the wealthy sahabah, who are infact the best of the best, among the ten promised jannah, May Allah have mercy on them. That one can have wealth but not be among those described in Suratul Humazah. What kind of characters do they have that Allah has put favour on them?
– Abdur Rahman bin Awf.

A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended.

Later the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorrowful and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage.

“Go to the marketplace”, he said, “and purchase a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road”. Although, surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.

The next day the wise man said, “Now go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.”

The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay, the wind had blown a11 the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.

“You see,” said the old sage, “it’s easy to drop them, but its impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”

***************What is backbiting

Allah’s Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: Do you know what is backbiting? They (the Companions) said: Allah and His Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) know best. Thereupon he (the Prophet) said: Backbiting implies your talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion about this that if I actually find (that failing) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said: If (that failing) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact backbited him, and if that is not in him it is a slander.
[Sahih Muslim, Hadith 6265]

Lessons

Backbiting – saying something about a person that he does not like.
even if it is true

Slandering – saying something about a person that he does not like and it is not true.

Allah curses those who backbites and slander in Surah Humazah
Woe to every slanderer and backbiter. (1)
Surah Humazah 104: 1

O ye who believe! avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: and spy not on each other nor speak ill of each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay ye would abhor it…but fear Allah: for Allah is Oft-Returning Most Merciful.

Once the Prophet, while passing through one of the grave-yards of Medina or Mecca heard the voices of two persons who were being tortured in their graves. The Prophet said, “These two persons are being tortured not for a major sin (to avoid).” The Prophet then added, “Yes! (they are being tortured for a major sin). Indeed, one of them never saved himself from being soiled with his urine while the other used to go about making gossips. The Prophet then asked for a green leaf of a date-palm tree, broke it into two pieces and put one on each grave. On being asked why he had done so, he replied, “I hope that their torture might be lessened, till these get dried.”

Naudzubillah!!

The words of backbiting is so dirty it can even change the clolur of the sea.

General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)
Dawud :: Book 41 : Hadith 4857

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin:

I said to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him): It is enough for you in Safiyyah that she is such and such (the other version than Musaddad’s has:) meaning that she was short-statured. He replied; You have said a word which would change the sea if it were mixed in it.

Those who backbites and slanders will scratch themselves with brass nails

Anas reported that Allah’s Messenger sallallahu alaihi wasalam said,

When I was ascended (to the heavens), I came across a people that had nails made of brass, with which they were scratching their faces and their chests. So I said, “Who are these people O Jibraeel? He said: They are the ones who eat the flesh of people and dishonour them.”

Description of punishment of the backbiters and slanderers in Suratul Humazah

and we have studied in Surah Humazah what the punishment of Hutamah to the backbiter and slanderer.

The backbiters and slanderers will be a bankrupt in the yaumul akhirah

Allah’s Messenger (saw) as saying:

“Do you know who is a bankrupt? They (the Companions) said: A bankrupt man amongst us is one who has neither dirham with him nor wealth. He (saw) said: The bankrupt man of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasts and Zakah but (he would find himself bankrupt on that day as he would have exhausted his funds of virtues) since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others and unlawfully consumed the wealth of others and shed the blood of others and beat others, and his virtues would be credited to the account of one (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then his sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown in the Hell-Fire.” [Muslim]

We go to masjid for every five prayers, we give generously,we fast Monday and Thursday and the three days of the month, we do nawafil, we wake up at night, we urge people to do good, we forbid evil whenever we can, we help clean up the mosque. We go to classes. In short we try to do all the good deeds that we can.

But if we still talk about others or abuse others, we are at risk of giving all our deeds to the one we have been badmouthing in the judgment day. And if our deeds were not enough to cover our sins to the person, we have to shoulder the other person bad deed.

Summary
1. Allah makes similarity if backbiting/ slandering to eating someone’s flesh Al Hujurat 49: 102
2.Rasululullah sallallahu alaihi wasalam akins backbiting to that the words of the backbiters will change the colour of the sea when mixed with it. Hadith by Aisyah r.a.
3. The backbiters/ slanderers will be the bankrupt ones on aumul akhirah.

Punishment of the backbiters and Slanderers
1. Allah curses them Al Humazah 104: 1
2. tortured in the grave – hadith Sahih Bukhari
3. Tortured in yaumul akhirah with nails of brass scratching own face and chest – hadith by Anas r.a.
4. Punishment as described in Suratul humazah
– Flunked in Hutamah the crushing Fire
– Fire that lepas over the heart
– Fire that encloses one in pillar